ple of how the Offset Works: John Doe receives a monthly workers’ compensation benefit of $3,000.00. John Doe then qualifies for Social Security and would receive $1,500.00 a month based on his earnings record with Social Security with an additional $750.00 for his children. Social Security calculates John Doe’s average earnings based on his best year in the last five yeaYou are disabled and you are on Workers' Compensation for your injury and you want to also obtain Social Security Disability for this injury. This article addresses whether this is possible.

Social Security Disability, is a Federal program that provides monthly income to disabled people (1) who have paid into the Social Security system while working and (2) who have proven they are disabled and unable to work. The amount of monthly income is dependent upon earnings paid in by the worker in the years prior to the disability with the maximum benefit a disabled worker could receive in 2006 being $2,053.00 per month. The worker's dependents could receive an additional 50% of his amount.

Virginia Workers Compensation. is a state of Virginia program that provides benefits for the disabled worker who is injured on the job. The amount of the benefit is two thirds of the worker’s gross salary with a cap of $773.00 per week as of July 1, 2006 which would be about $3,320.00 per month.

The Social Security Offset: In 1965 Congress passed an amendment to Social Security enacting the Social Security Offset. Since 1965, Social Security will reduce its benefit if a combination of the Social Security benefit and the Workers’ Compensation benefit exceeds 80% of the worker’s average current earnings. Social Security calculates the average monthly earnings based on the best year of employment in the five years preceding the onset of the worker’s disability.

An Example of how the Offset Works: John Doe receives a monthly workers’ compensation benefit of $3,000.00. John Doe then qualifies for Social Security and would receive $1,500.00 a month based on his earnings record with Social Security with an additional $750.00 for his children. Social Security calculates John Doe’s average earnings based on his best year in the last five year

ve proven they are disabled and unable to work. The amount of monthly income is dependent upon earnings paid in by the worker in the years prior to the disability with the maximum benefit a disabled worker could receive in 2006 being $2,053.00 per month. The worker's dependents could receive an additional 50% of his amount.

Virginia Workers Compensation. is a state of Virginia program that provides benefits for the disabled worker who is injured on the job. The amount of the benefit is two thirds of the worker’s gross salary with a cap of $773.00 per week as of July 1, 2006 which would be about $3,320.00 per month.

The Social Security Offset: In 1965 Congress passed an amendment to Social Security enacting the Social Security Offset. Since 1965, Social Security will reduce its benefit if a combination of the Social Security benefit and the Workers’ Compensation benefit exceeds 80% of the worker’s average current earnings. Social Security calculates the average monthly earnings based on the best year of employment in the five years preceding the onset of the worker’s disability.

An Example of how the Offset Works: John Doe receives a monthly workers’ compensation benefit of $3,000.00. John Doe then qualifies for Social Security and would receive $1,500.00 a month based on his earnings record with Social Security with an additional $750.00 for his children. Social Security calculates John Doe’s average earnings based on his best year in the last five yea

e of Virginia program that provides benefits for the disabled worker who is injured on the job. The amount of the benefit is two thirds of the worker’s gross salary with a cap of $773.00 per week as of July 1, 2006 which would be about $3,320.00 per month.

The Social Security Offset: In 1965 Congress passed an amendment to Social Security enacting the Social Security Offset. Since 1965, Social Security will reduce its benefit if a combination of the Social Security benefit and the Workers’ Compensation benefit exceeds 80% of the worker’s average current earnings. Social Security calculates the average monthly earnings based on the best year of employment in the five years preceding the onset of the worker’s disability.

An Example of how the Offset Works: John Doe receives a monthly workers’ compensation benefit of $3,000.00. John Doe then qualifies for Social Security and would receive $1,500.00 a month based on his earnings record with Social Security with an additional $750.00 for his children. Social Security calculates John Doe’s average earnings based on his best year in the last five yea

ity Offset. Since 1965, Social Security will reduce its benefit if a combination of the Social Security benefit and the Workers’ Compensation benefit exceeds 80% of the worker’s average current earnings. Social Security calculates the average monthly earnings based on the best year of employment in the five years preceding the onset of the worker’s disability.

An Example of how the Offset Works: John Doe receives a monthly workers’ compensation benefit of $3,000.00. John Doe then qualifies for Social Security and would receive $1,500.00 a month based on his earnings record with Social Security with an additional $750.00 for his children. Social Security calculates John Doe’s average earnings based on his best year in the last five yea

ple of how the Offset Works: John Doe receives a monthly workers’ compensation benefit of $3,000.00. John Doe then qualifies for Social Security and would receive $1,500.00 a month based on his earnings record with Social Security with an additional $750.00 for his children. Social Security calculates John Doe’s average earnings based on his best year in the last five years prior to his disability as $5,000.00 per month. However, the combination of John Doe’s Social Security and Workers’ Compensation equals $4,500.00 ($3,000.00 plus $1,500.00) and 80% of his average earnings is only $4,000.00 ($5,000.00 x 80%). Thus, John Doe exceeds the 80% cap by $500.00 and his Social Security would be reduced to $1,000.00 per month ($4,500.00 - $4,000.00) and he would receive nothing for his children. If John Doe had dependents, they could have received 50% of his $1,500.00 Social Security amount or $750.00 as their dependent check. However, due to the receipt of Workers’ Compensation the dependents would not receive anything. Thus, John Doe in this example loses $500.00 per month for himself and $750.00 per month for his children in Social Security due to his receipt of Workers' Compensation benefits.

What About A Settlement to Escape the Offset? John Doe cannot easily escape the offset by doing a lump sum settlement of his Workers’ Compensation Claim. Normally, if John Doe does a lump sum settlement of his Workers’ Compensation Claim, the settlement will still be subject to the offset. Social Security will prorate the settlement to reflect the monthly rate that would have been paid had the lump-sum award not been made. Medical and legal expenses incurred by the worker may be excluded when computing the offset. For example, if John Doe settles his workers’ compensation claim for $100,000.00, Social Security will divide this $100,000.00 by fit by $3,000.00 (